


The One The Got Away

by Finn4



Category: Daisy Jones & The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:40:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26098015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finn4/pseuds/Finn4
Summary: After the abrupt end to their Aurora Tour in Chicago, 1979...chart topping band Daisy Jones and The Six went their separate ways and never performed together again. The mysterious break up was shrouded with rumors, specifically those surrounding lead singers Billy Dunne and Daisy Jones. Their love/hate relationship had given the band’s name rise throughout the late seventies...but did it eventually do them in? And more than that...can people as drawn to each other as Billy and Daisy continue to exist in the same world without their paths crossing?
Relationships: Billy Dunne/Camila Dunne, Billy Dunne/Daisy Jones
Comments: 31
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

** Whiskey A Go Go **

** West Hollywood, California **

** October 23, 1981 **

It was unusually cold for LA in October as the band Heart prepared to take the stage in West Hollywood’s infamous Whiskey A Go Go. It was a huge show for huge band so the place was busting at the seams. Groupies and hopefuls spilled out from the sidewalk and right onto the street, crowding the red velvet ropes that were strung there and managed by the bouncers. Inside the club it was SRO and people were shoulder to shoulder, already dancing to the canned music playing pre-show.

Billy Dunne had long since removed himself from this kind of a scene, but this night was a special occasion: his younger brother, Graham, was about to marry Jeanne Sims and Billy was his best man. Which meant that, even as a recovering alcoholic, he was going to throw him a helluva bachelor party. A large horseshoe shaped booth had been roped off just to the left of the stage and reserved. Adding to the fury of the crowd that night, the sign on the table read “Reserved for Graham Dunne and members of The Six.” Every groupie in the place tried to stake out real estate as close to the booth as possible. Billy had made dinner reservations that meant they’d be arriving just at ten as the set started, hoping to avoid too much of the groupie scene. 

Billy and Graham, along with Warren Rhodes, Pete and Eddie Loving, Rod Reyes and Artie Snyder arrived through the back door just as the opening song, City’s Burning, started. They did not go unnoticed and had to be escorted through the throngs of people to make it to the booth. Rod stopped to order a round for everyone but Billy, and then the seven of them slipped into their private booth to watch the show. A bouncer had stationed himself by their booth, even though Warren made himself busy sitting up on the back of the booth and signing bras and stomachs and cocktail napkins most of the night.

Graham slammed his third or fourth shot and then turned to Billy, shouting to be heard.

“You’re sure you’re ok? I don’t need to get drunk, man. We can just listen to music.”

Billy smiled and elbowed him.

“You’re about to sign your life away, little brother. You DO need to get drunk. I promise. And I’m fine. Promise.” 

Graham patted Billy’s lap.

“I love you. You know that??” Billy just laughed, loud and hearty.

“You’re drunk. I’ll get you another.”

Billy was on the edge of the booth and he slipped out. Rod, manager of The Six and lifelong friend of the brothers, gave him a look asking if he was ok.

“I’m fine. I’m gonna get some air and grab Graham another drink. I’ll be right back.”

Billy slipped through the crowd and out the back door. The band was so loud the music carried well into the alley. It was a private exit so while there were people, they weren’t the people that would bother Billy Dunne. He walked along the brick back of the building, tapping the drum line out on his thighs as he got some fresh air. Heart started the song Crazy On You, and being that it was one of his favorites, Billy decided to head back inside. He was almost back past the bouncer when he heard someone in the alley singing along as the vocals picked up.

_“If we still have time, we might still get by, Every time I think about it, I wanna cry”_

The voice floated down the alley and stopped Billy in his tracks. He turned in the direction it was coming from and saw her. Leaning against the wall, long legs and a flowy white top that hung effortlessly from her, matching the cascade of her auburn hair that peeked out from under a wide brimmed hat.

And that voice.

It was Daisy Jones.

It was unmistakably Daisy Jones.

Billy froze for a second watching her silhouette. She swayed gently to the tune and continued to sing to herself,

_“With bombs and the Devil and the kids keep coming, No way to breathe easy, no time to be young”_

Billy looked at the door and entertained just going back inside like he hadn’t seen her. Or heard her. But he hadn’t seen Daisy Jones since she stepped foot offstage in Chicago. She vanished. Not so much as a phone call or a letter. At the very least he would say hello. He figured enough time had passed that whatever ills she carried towards him would at least tolerate a hello. He slowly padded towards her as she stood off to the side unnoticed by anyone but him. 

“Daisy Jones...” His voice had the feel of a whisper...slow and intense...even if it was loud enough to be heard over the bass and drums that vibrated through them both. She lifted her eyes from under her hat, still singing to herself,

_“But I tell myself that I was doing all right, There's nothing left to do at night...._.” she paused as she took him in, one leg against the brick wall across the alley from him, tapping along with the rhythm section.

“Billy Dunne....” She felt her cheeks flush and tucked her hands into her jeans. 

“Don’t forget a voice like that.” He smiled at her as she adjusted her posture. She returned it.

“Don’t forget a lot of things, I suppose.”

“You look well...” Billy said, but the band had kicked into the chorus and she couldn’t hear him.

“What??” She shouted, and he repeated it. She still couldn’t hear him. She held her hand to her ear and shrugged. He crossed the alley and leaned into her.

“I said you look well....” he whispered to her. His lips brushed her earlobe unintentionally and, without realizing they weren’t alone in it, they both felt a charge. He pulled back from her and she smiled.

“You, too.” 

“I wouldn’t have thought I’d see you here.” She tried to make small talk, unable to stop herself from staring at him. And he couldn’t pull his eyes from her. It was as if he didn’t realize until the moment he saw her again just how much he had missed looking at her.

“You normally wouldn’t. It’s Graham’s bachelor party. I need to go get him a drink. Can I buy you one?” The offer felt funny and natural at the same time. Daisy smiled and leaned into him.

“I’m sober, Billy. 829 days.” She leaned back only to see his reaction to her news. He smiled broadly at her, lighting up a dimple on his cheek that made her blush.

“Wow...I...I didn’t know. I’m proud of you, Daisy. So proud of you.” Billy had a hard time finding the right words and she tucked her hair nervously behind her ear.

“Don’t be proud of me. You’re not my father. Be happy for me.” She bit her lip and leaned into him.

“I’m happy for you, Daisy. I’m really happy for you.” They stood locked in a glance for what felt much longer than it probably was. Billy finally realized he needed to get his brother that drink.

“Jesus Christ here you are!! Man, the Wilson sisters want The Dunne Brothers on stage....come on!!” Warren was shouting at him from the door, too drunk and oblivious to Daisy. Billy just laughed.

“Graham will never go for that.” Billy spoke as he heard someone tuning a guitar and the crowd screaming.

“His drunk ass is already on stage. Let’s go!! You only get one bachelor party!!” Warren shouted and then slipped back into the club. Billy ran his hand through his hair as Daisy chuckled.

“Same old Warren. Sounds like you should go. Give my love to everyone would you?” Daisy let a sadness creep into her voice that she didn’t intend. Billy turned to her.

“Will you stick around?” He was hopeful that maybe they would have some more time, quieter time, to catch up.

“I was actually on my way out....”

“Oh, right. Well....”

“It was good to see you Billy. Take care of yourself. Ok?”

She smiled sweetly. 

“Daisy...” He called to her. She held up a peace sign, and made her way away from the club. Billy watched her walk down the alley and then slipped back into The Whiskey. She tucked her hands into her pockets and walked until she had turned the corner. She was wading through the crowd on the street as she heard the crowd cheering and Anne Wilson announcing that Billy Dunne was going to join her on stage. She couldn’t leave. 

Billy was strapping on a guitar as Graham egged him on. Graham started to play rhythm guitar as Billy joined in and the band started to play their version of Aaron Neville’s Tell It Like It Is. Billy and Anne Wilson turned it into an impromptu duet and the crowd went crazy. As they reached the chorus, singing into their own mics, Billy scanned the thriving crowd and spotted that wide brimmed hat and auburn hair at the back of the club flanked by two bouncers. Her tiny frame swaying to the music. He locked his eyes on her eyes on his as he sang:

_“Tell it like it is, Don't be ashamed to let your conscience be your guide, But I know deep down inside of me, I believe you love me, forget your foolish pride”_

She couldn’t look away but she could hardly stand not to. Billy watched her as they continued the song. As Graham took a guitar solo, Billy noticed her moving towards the door. He racked his guitar and jumped from the stage, disappearing into the crowd and moving like a salmon upstream trying to find her. He spotted her hat moving out the door and he followed it into the street. He pushed and shoved as he fought to not lose sight of her. He finally got close enough to grab her arm and spin her.

It wasn’t Daisy.

The short blonde woman he had spun looked happy to have gained his attention and then immediately dejected when she realized it was misplaced.

“Sorry....I thought you were someone else.” He shrugged it off and headed back down the sidewalk towards the front entrance, cursing himself for not keeping her in the alley when he had the chance. He had so much to say to her. So many things to ask.

829 days. He heard the number over and over in his head. 829 days. He knew exactly how long ago 829 days was.

The Chicago show. Daisy has gotten clean the day after the Chicago show. And he hadn’t seen her since. He waded back into the club as Heart was finishing their set. The plan was to crash in the penthouse suite at the Beverly Wiltshire but all he could think about was finding Daisy Jones. He told himself to put it out of his mind. He rejoined the guys at the table for a last round and then slipped out the back door and headed by limo to the hotel. 

“Hey...what’s eating you?” Graham was practically laying on Billy as he asked. Billy chuckled at his state.

“Nothing. Just not as young as I used to be. I’m wiped.”

“Jesus Christ, your 34 not 84. This is why I’m never getting married.” Eddie yelled at him from the back of the limo and threw ice at him. 

“You can go to bed when we get to the hotel. Really. I know this is a lot. I’m good.”

Graham was giddy and wasted and slurring his speech.

“We can take it from here.” Rod winked at him, mistaking his absent mindedness as a struggle to stay sober. Billy just nodded.

When they got to the hotel, Rod checked everyone into two rooms as Billy called Camila from a pay phone.

“Hey, Mrs. Dunne...” he smiled as she answered, half asleep, “I’m sorry to wake you but I promised I’d call. Wanted to let you know I’m ok.”

“Mmmmmmm....hi....I’m glad baby. Is Graham having fun?” Camila’s drowsy voice made Billy weak and he looked over at Graham, fully supported by Artie and still nursing a beer.

“He will be feeling it tomorrow.” Billy whispered.

“You’re sure you’re ok....it’s ok to not be ok.” Camila reassured him, knowing it was a lot for his recovery.

“I’m gonna head to bed.I’m sure I’m ok. I love you. Kiss the girls. I’ll call them in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Billy. I love you.”

She had hung up before he could say it back. Billy watched the guys load into the elevator and shut the door. He wandered over to the check in desk and tried to look busy.

“Can I help you sir?” The concierge asked and Billy thought twice.

“Yeah....just wondering if...is there a Lola LaCava staying here by chance?”

The concierge shuffled some papers and then informed him that...no. There was not.

Billy nodded gratefully and then made his way to the elevator. He inhaled as he pressed the button. 

829 days. 

Daisy has been sober for 829 days.

He hadn’t seen her face in 829 days. Hadn’t felt that heat in 829 days.

And now he felt like one of them was about to have a relapse.

And he was pretty sure it would be him.


	2. Chapter 2

** Griffith Park, Los Angeles **

** April 24, 1982 **

Daisy Jones sat on a small blanket that she had pulled from her pack in what had become an almost daily ritual for her. She hiked from her cottage in Los Feliz, up into the trails of Griffith Park just beneath the Observatory. She would sit for hours and meditate or write. Sometimes just sit in the stillness and ground herself as she got lost in the sight of Los Angeles from a bird’s eye view. More often than not she would look over the ants marching below her and wonder where he was. What he was doing. If he was happy. But since seeing Billy Dunne at The Whiskey over six months ago, she couldn’t shake him.

She knew why. In her mind, once Camila convinced her to leave the band, get clean, start over...she assumed that what had gradually turned into an infatuation with Billy would just eventually disappear with the rest of that life. That he represented the things she thought she didn’t deserve, like the life she was currently living. And she didn’t need him as that idol anymore.

But seeing him again, however briefly, listening to him sing right to her...it shook her. Because she realized that no matter how much time had passed he had somehow scored himself on her and it wasn’t going anywhere. That electricity was catching as if they had never spent a moment apart.

She was working on a memoir about sobriety but every time she put pen to paper...she wrote about Billy. At first it was memories of the band, but it grew into something more: she was writing fiction. She was penning chapter after chapter of what their life might have been.

Daisy had sat so long that it was mid afternoon. Lost in her writing and her thoughts. She grabbed a drink of water and pushed her blanket and notebooks back into her back pack before sliding it over a shoulder. She tied her hair up loosely over her head and hummed to herself as she made the descent back down into the valleys of Los Feliz. A few cars passed her as she made it back to the main winding road. But one seemed to slow and then eventually stop just yards in front of her. She slowed her pace and took in her surroundings. She was not usually nervous to be on her own but she found herself inexplicably rattled as the car turned off. The driver’s side door opened and she continued to walk in the direction of the car cautiously. 

It was Billy Dunne. Had she manifested him? Did she get so much sun that she was now hallucinating? He turned to her, dressed more casually that she had ever seen him in a hooded sweatshirt and jeans. He squinted at her as he leaned on the car door. 

“This is Los Angeles, Jones, no one walks anywhere. What are you doing out here?”

He smiled as she approached him. He was right. The old joke was you would drive to your next door neighbor’s house instead of lowering yourself to walk there. She scoffed at the notion.

“Walking. It’s good for you. You should try it sometime, she teased him, “the real question is what are YOU doing out here. You’re a long way from Malibu.”

Billy looked around and then glanced up the hill.

“Took the girls to the Observatory. To cloudy to see much but Camila needed a little break.”

Daisy nodded along.

“Well I’d invite you to join me but....”

“Yeah. Car full of girls. And that’s not as sexy as it sounds.” They both laughed as he spoke before she slowed.

“It’s...sexier than you think.” He stiffened and she regretted it immediately. Daisy looked into the back seat of the car at the three girls playing and bouncing.

“They are getting so big, Billy.” She smiled, still looking into the car. He was struck by how different she seemed to him. In a good way. 

“They keep us busy, that’s for damn sure. You should say hello....” He offered and immediately sensed Daisy’s apprehension.

“Oh, no, I don’t know that they would remember me...”

Even as she spoke, Julia...the oldest at five...leaned into the back window and waved emphatically, shouting hello. They could both make out that she was calling for Daisy. Billy smiled a half smile and cocked his head.

“You’re kind of....impossible to forget.” His voice was quiet and it landed on Daisy’s ear like a ton of bricks. She smiled and blew a kiss at Julia, who returned it.

“You know....I....I walk here most days. If you were ever....in the area again. The offer was intimate. She pulled at her hair on her head trying to be casual. Billy pursed his lips and she watched him think over what it could mean. 

“Most days....so say, if I were to be here...I don’t know....tomorrow?” He seemed shy and it charmed her. Her heart raced.

“Yeah, probably about this time. I could...bring lunch.” 

He nodded. 

“You do eat don’t you?” she teased him and he nodded again. Like he couldn’t find it in him to say the words yes. To officially commit to coming to see her.

“I do. Probably too much.” He patted his stomach and she rolled her eyes.

“Well wear better shoes. We will walk it off. And...catch up. Maybe...I mean...if you happen to be in the area.”

They shared a smile and as if on cue one of the younger girls in the back seat started crying from her car seat and a toy flung out of Billy’s door, hitting him square in the face. Daisy laughed to herself as he leaned over to pick it up. It was a rubber ducky. She grinned at how he reacted to it the same way the Billy she knew would react to having panties thrown at him.

“I should go. Can I give you a ride somewhere?”

“No...I like the walk. To clear my head.”

She smiled, he had no idea how much she had to clear out of her head in that moment. He nodded and slunk back into the car, and she grinned as she saw him turn and immediately calm his girls. She caught his eyes in the rear view mirror. And then he was gone.

She stood frozen on the side of the road and only in his absence did she realize her heart had been pounding. And what had she just done? Invited him to come join for a hike? And lunch? This doting father of three who carried with him so much baggage for her? Her fingers felt numb as she rang them together and walked quickly into the valley and towards her house to call Simone. 

_______________

“What do you mean he just showed up in Griffith Park?” Simone was struggling to understand Daisy as she spoke a mile a minute like a teenager trying to describe an awkward interaction with a crush.

“I mean I was coming down from my hike and this car pulled over. And it was Billy. Billy Dunne.”

“Yes, girl, I know who he is. What is he stalking you now??” Simone was leery of the excitement in Daisy’s voice.

“With a car full of kids? I don’t think so. I just...I know what I’m about to say sounds crazy...but I have just been unable to stop thinking about him. Something I just can’t shake. There’s this energy. You think maybe it’s somehow just pulling us towards each other??”

Simone was silent. For a long time.

“I know, it’s crazy.” Daisy was defeated. The better explanation was that it was a small world. And their circles were even smaller. But Simone was already lost in thinking about how, so many times in the past, she would just know Daisy needed her. She would call her out of the blue in the middle of the night because for no reason she popped into her head and she needed to know that Daisy was ok. She believed in that energy. She had felt it. But it didn’t make her any less nervous that Daisy had it with Billy Dunne, too.

“It’s not crazy. But....listen, Daisy, and listen to me good. You walked away from that man and changed your life. You hear what I’m saying? And he has a family. You’re talking about him...I can hear it in your voice...you don’t need to open these wounds back up.”

Daisy listened as she chewed on her fingers, her toes flipping in the water of her backyard pool.

“I asked him to meet me tomorrow. For lunch.” Daisy whispered meekly, knowing Simone would not approve. Was that why she told her?

“God damnit, Daisy. No. You call him and tell him it’s a bad idea.”

“I don’t know how to call him. I don’t have a number.”

“Does he have yours?”

“No.”

“Good. Daisy...what do you need with him? This doesn’t end well for you and you know it. It doesn’t end well for either of you.”

Daisy was quiet. She knew this was the lecture she would get from her best friend and she thought she wanted it. She thought she wanted some sense talked into her. But now every word made her recoil.

“Simone it’s not what you think. Look, Billy is one of the most talented people I’ve ever known. I was...I was so clouded by the pills and the booze and the dope...I just want him to know that’s not who I am.”

Simone took in her words and Daisy heard her inhale.

“It’s risky, Daisy, that’s all I’m saying. Are you sure you are ready for a risk like that?” Simone was stern. She didn’t like it, not one bit. But she knew it would be impossible to convince her otherwise.

“If it means I can live the rest of my life not wondering every day of this man hates me? Hates because he never really knew me? Then yes. I’m ready for a risk like that.” 

“Do you love him, Daisy?” 

Daisy hung up before giving her answer, pretending not to hear the question.

_______________________

Daisy could hardly sleep. She was up before the sun and making a loaf of bread. She had taken up baking in her sobriety and it calmed her more than most things. She lingered in her back yard, using her shirt to collect blackberries from the bushes there. She made jam. She spent more time than she would have imagined possible packing a basket of food: homemade bread and jam, sandwiches, jugs of water and lemonade, strawberries. She positioned and repositioned it all. She showered twice. The first time she felt like her hair had dried funny and it helped her pass the time anyway. She put on a white tank top, debating a bra and deciding against it, with some cargo pants and shoes. It was decidedly Daisy Jones of her. She was desperate to show him who she was now. Who she had always been. 

She locked her door and headed into the hills. Walking slowly as she had taken a much earlier start...unable to wait much longer. There was a small clearing in the brush where the tiny path she took to the overlook met with the road from the Observatory. She sat there. The minutes passed painfully slowly. Daisy wore no watch so she had no idea what time it was. But the sun was centered in the sky when she arrived, and it was making it’s descent painfully slowly towards the horizon. At one point she took out a hunk of bread and picked at it. Unable to eat. A pair of runners passed her as they entered the trails and again, much later, as they exited.

“Excuse me...” she stopped them, “do you have the time?”

The young woman looked at her watch.

“It’s almost four. Is everything ok?”

Daisy felt her heart sink and mustered a smile. 

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.”

But she wasn’t fine. She forced herself to sit for another hour, increasingly sad and rejected.He wasn’t coming. She finally decided to leave, feeling altogether pathetic for waiting on him for an entire afternoon. She wrapped the bread and jam in the large cloth from the basket and left it on a nearby bench. If he came...he would know she had been there. She wrote her phone number on a slip of paper from her bag and stuck it in the cloth...with a heart, and a D.

She went home and forced herself to try to sleep. But spent the evening pacing her home before she drug herself back out of the house well after midnight to go check the bench.

And there it sat. Untouched. 

She threw it away on her walk back down the hill. Simone was right. She couldn’t open herself back up to him just to be disappointed again. For the first time in her life she felt like maybe she deserved him. And he still couldn’t find space for her in his world.


	3. Chapter 3

** New York City, NY **

** November 27, 1982 **

Billy had travelled to New York City to do some studio work with musicians that were recording his music for Runner Records. Billy had signed a lucrative contract with Runner that allowed him to work mostly from home and the west coast (including Eddie’s studio in Van Nuys) but occasionally he had to travel to New York to shake some hands and grease some gears at studios there.

He wasn’t a fan of traveling alone. He missed Camila and he missed his girls. But New York at Christmastime was pretty magical and Billy intended to spend his nights off wandering Fifth Avenue and shopping for his girls. He had a suite at The Plaza and two nights into his trip he had already filled it with bags of things for them, planning ways to have it sent back to Los Angeles by Christmas.

It was a freezing cold night and he had decided just to order room service, but he had to stay awake long enough to call the girls before bed. The three hour time difference meant that it would be close to eleven before they were getting tucked in and it was only seven. So he buttoned up a coat and decided just to busy himself walking around the city. He strolled past shops unnoticed, grabbed coffee from a street vendor and did some people watching outside of the Museum Of Modern Art. He walked down side roads and past throngs of people lined up for Broadway shows as he noticed a sign in a record store on the corner. He pulled his collar around his ears as he pressed closer to the window. 

_** “Daisy Jones signs copies of her new book, Wanderer. 11/27” ** _

Billy felt the corner of his mouth peak as he glanced inside the store and realized the throng outside of the building wasn’t for the adjoining theatre at all. It was people waiting to see Daisy Jones.

Billy thought about taking his place at the end of the line, but he checked his watch and knew he wouldn’t make it back to his room in time. He pushed through the crowd and was easily recognized by most everyone that let him pass. He had to sign a few autographs but it was a small price to pay.

A security guard moved to stop him before realizing who he was.

“Oh....well, damned if this isn’t gonna be a good night. Billy Dunne...” He laughed and extended his hand, Billy shook it readily.

“I’m guessing you’re here to see Daisy, too? Something tells me you don’t need to wait in line to do that....come on, come on....”

The stout guard moved through the crowd with Billy in tow until they reached the rope across from the table where she sat. She was busily signing autographs and taking pictures and didn’t notice him at first, until something made her lift her head and look his way. They locked eyes for a moment before he mouthed the words “hi.” She did the same. Her handler reminded her of the task at hand. And she was back to entertaining her people.

“How long is this set to last?” Billy asked the guard who checked his watch.

“She’s out of here at 9:00. Just a few more minutes. Gonna be some pissed off people in the back of that line. I take it you’re here to escort her out the back?”

Billy looked at him and then at Daisy who kept finding moments to look up at him.

“Yeah...yeah I guess I am.” 

Billy sat back and marveled at her. There was a glow about her. She smiled and meant it. It wasn’t vacant. She had probably put on a healthy ten pounds and her eyes glowed, not in the sunken sad way they used to. He found himself getting more and more taken with her, rocking back against a bookshelf and crossing his feet as he watched her.

The security guard made an announcement that the signing was over and Daisy pulled a heavy fur coat off the back of her chair, pulling it over her shoulders as she and her handler moved towards the exit.She made eye contact with Billy as she walked and he rounded the bookcases to meet her at the back door. 

“We have to stop meeting in alleys....” She teased him as he rebuttoned his coat. 

“I have a car coming to take you to The Plaza unless you’d like to stop for dinner?” Her handler was busy with papers and handing Daisy water which she took and then passed back.

“You take the car...” she glanced at Billy as she talked, “I’ll walk.” 

She had to reassure her that she wanted to walk back, but with a little nudging...Billy and Daisy finally stood alone in the alley.

“I owe you a walk anyway....” He said it apologetically. She bristled at it, having long since written him off but still so damn charmed by him she hated herself for it.

She started walking, heading through the alley and back out to Fifth Avenue. He kept her slow pace.

“Yeah...you’re what, six months too late.” She tried to make light and now show how hurt it had made her. She thought she was over it until she saw him again.

It was becoming a common theme.

“We wound up taking the girls to the beach, I didn’t know how to reach you....I would have.....”

“Billy I told you I’m there most days. That’s six months of days you could have come and you didn’t. And that’s ok. We don’t owe each other excuses anymore. Ok?”

He watched her speak and didn’t like the insinuation, but it wasn’t worth risking an argument.

“Ok....”

They walked in silence for a block, both of them huddling in the cold. Daisy blowing circles into the air and watching her breath dissipate. Billy searched for something to talk about to break the silence. 

“Hey, there’s a greasy spoon diner up off of 42nd Street. How about you let me buy you dinner and we call it even.”

Her head rushed. She wanted more than anything to sit and have a quiet dinner with him. To talk about her life. To find out about his.But she had Simone’s voice in her head. How would that feel when he said goodnight and went back to his life, leaving her in hers. She took a moment too long to answer.

“You don’t owe me anything. We made a great album. I’d say we are even for life.”

He grabbed her wrist as she spoke and stopped her in her tracks, turning her towards him.

“Daisy...come on. We can’t really just...not speak or...be friends...I feel like, we’ve past that haven’t we? I mean...it’s like grabbing a burger with Eddie.....” He realized his logic wasn’t sound as soon as he said it. She let her fingers find his.

“Except...it’s not. And you know that, too. I’m glad you stopped in tonight. I really am. And I hope you like the book. I’d love to hear your thoughts sometime....”

“I wouldn’t know how to contact you to share them....” He protested, still holding her hand, his fingers freezing.

“I’m like the wind, Billy. I’m always there....you just....only notice when you need to....” She leaned into him and kissed his cheek gently before pulling her hand from his and taking off down Fifth. He watched her go and then pulled out the paperback copy of her book he had just bought. He walked to the greasy spoon by himself,ordered a bowl of chili as he took his coat off, and sat staring at her picture on the back cover. There she sat in all of her glory. Surrounded by flowers with a steady stream of sunlight illuminating her through a white sundress. He read the back cover to himself:

_ This book is the story of growing up in Los Angeles with two parents too lost in their own journeys to acknowledge the one that mattered. It is a story of a young girl finding her soul in the music scene of Laurel Canyon and West Hollywood. A girl who took decades to realize that she didn’t need the guidance of parents to learn her worth. It would come from within. I dedicate this book to a little soul named Julia Dunne: who’s journey will be different, with two parents who have and will always give up everything for her, but who I know will find her heartbeat on her own in exactly the way I did. Julia, we are Wanderers. _

Billy almost dropped the book into the cup of coffee that had appeared in front of him without him noticing. He read it again. And again. 

He put twenty dollars down on the table and put his coat on, shoving the book into his pocket before bundling up and heading outside. The walk to Central Park and The Plaza would be long, but he needed the time to think of what to say.

____________________

“Do you have a Lola LaCava staying here?” Knowing Daisy was there and hoping she still used that alias. Her assistant had mentioned where she was staying and he no longer felt like there wasn’t some bigger force keeping their paths intersecting. The concierge knew who Billy was and it was a good thing. He looked at Billy and then looked around before slipping him a piece of paper with a room number on it. One of the top floors and the biggest suites. Not far from his own room.

“Thank you.” he whispered and made his way to the elevator. He chewed the inside of his cheek as he rode to her floor, exiting slowly and finding her room. He hung his head and looked at the paper in his hand, felt the book in his pocket. He pulled it out and huffed, staring at her picture. The dedication all at once warmed and angered him.He decided to knock, still holding the book in his other hand. It didn’t take her long to open it and she had only just taken her coat off. 

“Billy....” she was shocked to see him. He held up the book.

“I have some thoughts...if you want to hear them.” He was trying not to sound hurt or angry even though he was both. She backed away from him and motioned for him to enter.

“That was fast....” She joked slyly before closing the door. He turned to her and they stood locked in a stand still. He gestured to her with her book. And she could tell it wasn’t sitting with him.

“Billy....”

“No, can I go first? I’m trying to make sense of this Daisy....you can barely stand the sight of me, I’m trying to save whatever friendship we might have been able to have, and you’re not interested...but...you dedicate your book...to my daughter??Help me make sense of this. Please?”

Daisy could tell he was spinning and she didn’t think of all the ways it could have potentially upset him.

“Billy, I wanted to dedicate it to her...and your family...because you did it right. That means something. That’s worth honoring.”

Billy turned the book over and quoted her dedication:

“Whose parents have and would give up everything for her... I mean, of course we would, but this feels like....you mean the band? You think I gave you the band? You gave up....”

“I didn’t give up, Billy....”

“The hell you didn’t give up. You disappeared on me. You...we...we do a show like we did in Chicago, you sing with me like you did and then you’re gone. On the wind, like you said. No call, no note, you go years like I don’t even exist....”

“Billy, please....” Daisy moved slightly into him but he couldn’t bring himself to stop. Years of questions were pouring from him. 

“You tell me you get sober the next day. The next fucking day. You walk away from the band...from me...why? What did I do to you to deserve that?”

Daisy was stunned by the hurt in his voice. 

“It’s hard to explain....”

“Try. Please.”

She inhaled deeply. 

“I couldn’t keep falling deeper and deeper in love with you while you fell deeper and deeper in love with your wife. You have no idea how that felt. No idea.” She didn’t waste time beating around the bush. 

“You don’t think I know how that felt? To be torn apart like that? You don’t think...you don’t think I was falling in love with you, too?” It was angrier than he wanted it to sound but...there it was. The answer to her million dollar question. He had loved her.

_ He...had...loved....her.  _

She spun from him, suddenly unable to hold eye contact. 

“Is that why you left? Because you loved me? Because you were afraid I light love you, too??” He softened his voice and his posture and closed the space behind her. She forced herself to turn and face him.

“No. I left because I didn’t love myself. If Camila hadn’t talked to me that night. Shown me how strong I really was....”

She was trying to say the right thing, to explain how something had to give, but she watched the realization dawn on him and she knew she had misspoken. 

“Wait....what? Camila?” 

“Billy...don’t get angry. She was looking out for me....she changed my whole life...”

“She changed your whole life by making sure I wasn’t a part of it. Am I right?” Daisy couldn’t answer, and he continued.

“Did she ask you to leave? Did she ask you to leave the band? Chicago? Me? Tell me the truth.”

Daisy just stared at him, her eyes welling.

“Damnit, Daisy, please....”

“Yes. She did. But she was right. I needed to leave. Your family, your girls, they have to come first. And...I had to get clean....and....Billy please....” He was backing away from her as she spoke, the tears in her eyes spilling over themselves. He put his hand up as he pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned.

“I need to go. I’m.. I’m glad you and Camila knew exactly what I needed in MY life. Clearly a loser like me can’t be trusted to make his own god damned decisions.....” 

“Billy....”

He slipped past her and out the door, leaving his copy of her book behind. She closed the door and sunk against it crying.

_________________ 

“Daddy!!!” The girls yelled in unison as they answered the phone for Billy to talk to them before bed.

“How are the three prettiest girls in California tonight?! I miss you so so much.”

Billy sat in the floor by the side of his bed as he listened to them recount the details of their days: ice cream, the park, a visit from Uncle Graham. He could hear Camila telling them to wrap it up. 

“Goodnight, my beautiful girls. Be good for mommy. Ok? Can you put her on the phone for me?”

They blew slobbery kisses and Camila took the receiver from them, laughing.

“Go get right in those beds and I will be up in one minute after I tuck daddy in....hey, Daddy....”

Billy grinned and tried to block out the new knowledge of a decision she had made to alter his life...behind his back. He pressed his head into his hand.

“Hey, mama. How are things? Good?”

“We are good. Graham came for dinner. Said he is anxious to hear the new stuff. How’s it going there?”

“It’s good. Got some good tunes laid down today, I think they have some great artists in mind....”

“Did you eat? Are you remembering to eat?”

She always checked on him in this sweet motherly way.He swallowed hard before testing the waters.

“I ran into Daisy Jones tonight....she had a book signing.”

Camilla was uneasy for a moment before answering.

“Really. How nice. Did you get a chance to catch up?”

“Not much. I mean we don’t have much to say to each other really. Other than...why she left.....”

Camila was silent. She could tell in Billy’s tone that he knew.

“Anything you want to say to me about that or do I just take her at her word, Camila?”

“Billy....I don’t want to do this over the phone. You’ll be home in two days. Let’s just talk then. It isn’t what you think....”

“Do you didn’t tell her to leave the band? Camila I need to hear you say it. Tell me you didn’t tell her to leave the band....”

The line was silent.

“Camila....”

He heard her breathing and stifling a sniffle.

“Billy the girls are waiting. I will call you tomorrow. I....Billy....I love you so much......”

He didn’t answer, he felt his head pound under the weight of a million new questions.

“Billy? Please say something.”

He hung up the phone.


	4. Chapter 4

**New York City, New York**

**November 27/28, 1982**

Billy sat against the side of the bed, staring at his feet in front of him. Lost in the thoughts of how little he knew about the past few years of his life. He tried to imagine how a conversation between Daisy and Camila would have gone down. He tried to imagine what Camila thought was happening between them that would inspire her to make Daisy leave. He tried to imagine what Daisy must have felt to give up everything she had worked so damn hard for. A half an hour had past and his hotel room phone rang. He let it go. There wasn’t anyone he cared to talk to in that moment. After several minutes it rang again. He reached for the receiver. 

“Yeah...”

“Mister Dunne, we have a Graham Dunne on the line for you.” 

Graham might have been the only person Billy wanted to talk to. But he was also pretty sure that he was only calling because Camila had asked him to. He declined the call. But as he had the concierge on the line he wanted so badly to have a bottle of Cuervo brought to his room. 

Because fuck Camila, that’s why. 

He hung up.

He had never been with Daisy. He had fought every instinct in his body to stay away from her. For Camila. And she had treated him like he had done it anyway. A complete lack of trust in him that made him feel so small he couldn’t move past it. He had two days left in New York but he wanted to get in a cab to JFK and catch the red eye home to have it out with her. He needed to know why. 

There was a knock at the door. It was soft. A blink and you miss it kind of knock. Billy sat for awhile before deciding to answer it.

He pulled himself off the floor and opened it, he knew who it would be. 

She stood before him, clearly having been crying, wrapped in a coat and disheveled but still breathtakingly beautiful. They stared at each other for a moment, taking in a mutual despair of what was no longer a dark secret between them. She pushed some hair behind her ear.

“That offer for a big greasy hamburger still on the table?” She asked nervously. He stared at her for a moment before reaching for his coat.

“You’re buying.” He pulled the door closed and slipped into his coat. Without thinking or justifying why or why not he shouldn’t do it he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, feeling her breath still hitch with upset under him. She put hers around his waist and they walked the length of Central Park between The Plaza and the diner just like that. Without talking. 

They were sat in a booth in the far back, at Daisy’s request, and both got coffee as they sat down across from each other.

“Menus?” The waiter asked. Billy gestured to Daisy.

“Just coffee for me thanks, lost my appetite.”

“We’ll have two giant burgers and as many fries as you can fit on a plate.” She forced a smile as the waiter left. And they sat in the thickness of even more silence.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Billy leaned over the table as he asked and she leaned right back into him.

“Because you would have convinced me to stay. And I couldn’t stay. You don’t want to hear this,but Camila saved my life. I couldn’t have gotten clean if I stayed. You know that.”

Billy took in her words but shook his head no.

“No. I could have helped you. You could have come to me. We could have done it together....”

“Listen to yourself. That’s why I had to leave? Done it together? So I could realize that even if I got clean I still couldn’t be with you? We could have run a few laps together Billy, but you aren’t crossing the finish line with me.”

He rocked back in the booth as she talked, smiling faintly.

“That’s dramatic.” 

“It’s also true. When I talked to her that night, Julia was there. Julia, Billy. You think I could ever look in that girl’s eyes and tell her I was the reason things broke bad between her mom and dad? I got to be the hero of my story. And I don’t regret it.” 

She paused for awhile and watched him lazily stir his coffee before she reached across the table for his hand. 

“Billy...I need you to not be mad at Camila. She did what she had to do for her family and I would have done the same thing if it meant holding on to you.” She linked her fingers through his even if he was still pouting and not moving his back through hers.He finally sat back up and leaned over the table. 

“Things might have been so different. You’re ok knowing that?” He was staring into her with an intensity that made her shiver.

“I’m ok not knowing what tomorrow brings. I’m ok knowing that you and I both survived that band. And look at us. We are here now to tell the world about it. To write. To...parent. To just, fucking exist.” 

“Did we survive though? I mean...”we”...you won’t even give me your damn phone number, Daisy.”

She rocked back this time and laughed as she wrapped her hands around a hot cup of coffee.

“I tried.” 

He looked at her, confused.

“The day you stood me up in Griffith Park. I left you my number.”

“So it was a one and done thing? No chance of getting it again?”

She smiled and he smiled back.

“We will see, Billy Dunne. We will see....”

Their food came and they shared a mountain of fries and three years of missed memories. They laughed and joked, Billy talked about the girls, Daisy filled him in on some travels with Simone. They sat for hours just reminiscing about old times...even finding ways to laugh at things that had been points of contention. 

The diner was closing so they paid the bill and linked their bodies together again as they ventured outside into the cold. It had dropped below freezing so Billy hailed a cab to The Plaza. He opened the door for Daisy and slid in behind her. They huddled together softly and quietly in the back. She nuzzled into his side and closed her eyes. He let his hand fall on her thigh where his fingers drew intimate details on it. They shared an unspoken but understood knowledge now of how they felt and what it meant...and that it would always be just out of reach. They arrived at the hotel, Billy tipped the driver and they walked in together, drawing attention that neither of them cared about. 

“Mister Dunne...” the concierge called to him and he turned.

“Your wife called. Would you like me to get her back on the line for you?” He asked in a hushed tone.

“Not tonight. Thank you.” Billy answered without looking, and Daisy watched his face. They got into the elevator and Billy pushed 17...his floor and not hers. She reached for the panel to press 18 and he grabbed her wrist gently without looking at her. She nuzzled herself back into his side and inhaled his musky smell through the cool fabric of his coat.

“You sure?” She whispered to him, unsure of her own answer.He just tightened his arm around her shoulders. 

___________________

Billy and Daisy tumbled into his room, not wanting to let go of each other. He tossedhis wallet on the table by the door and pulled Daisy into his side. She wanted to take her coat off but she didn’t want to break the physical connection so she could pull it free from her. They movedtogether until they were inside the room and near the bed. But neither of them sat or even touched it. Daisy rolled herself until she was pressed into Billy’s chest instead of his side and they worked together to undo her heavy coat buttons. He was pulling at his as well and they both fell in a slump onto the edge of them before slipping off of it and onto the floor. But neither of them cared. Billy pulled her into him and she wrapped her arms around his back. She wasn’t sure when it started but she was crying into him. Lightly at first and then with more vigor and volume. He buried his face in her hair and they swayed gently from side to side like they were dancing to music that didn’t exist.Daisy lifted her face to look at him and he smoothed his thumbs across her cheeks, wiping her tears and eye makeup with them.

“Why are you crying?” he asked, knowing there could be a million reasons. She just shrugged. 

“Would you....kiss me...” she whispered to him, “just once...?” 

She was breathless and he felt her tears run over his hands on her face. He didn’t hesitate to swallow all the air between them. He lowered his mouth to hers and grazed her lips with his. She let out a whimper at his touch. A kiss she had only barely just felt once before and she had craved ever since. She moved her lips together against his and then gasped for him. He pulled from her and then descended gently again, this time pulling her into him softly and holding the sides of her face as she felt his tongue warm against her lower lip. She raked her teeth across it and he hummed. She slipped her tongue into him and he rolled his against it, closing their mouths together as she ran her fingers across his lower back.

The pressure mounting between them was palpable and they were both struggling with how to address it, or whether they should let it continue to be the elephant in the room.

Daisy pulled her mouth from his and pressed her face into him, gently kissing his neck as he leaned back to expose it to her. 

“Billy....I should go....”

“I don’t want you to....” He whispered into the air.

“I don’t want to.” Daisy had turned her face to lean on his chest and was looking at bags full of stuffed animals he was taking home to his family. She had to hold her breath to stifle her cry. 

“Please stay...just...stay. It doesn’t have to be....it can just be this.....” He begged, his voice full of promise.

She forced herself to swallow her sob and looked up at him.

“I couldn’t lay with you all night and not beg you to make love to me.”

He clenched his jaw as she said the words, the idea of making love to her filling him with a heat he hadn’t felt in years. 

“I’m going to go. Please don’t make it harder than it already is. Please...”

She was clinging to his sweater as she begged him to make her leave. He put distance between them.

“Ok. You should go.” He wouldn’t look at her. 

“Billy, dont....”

“Just go. You’re right. Go.” He walked a away from her, picking up his coat from the floor and walking towards the bathroom before going in and shutting the door behind him. 

She grabbed her coat and all but ran from the room. She climbed the stairs to her floor and got into her room just in time to let the floodgates open. She called her manager in Los Angeles and asked her to put her on a red eye back to Los Angeles. She was packing to leave before she even hung up the phone, and on a plane out of New York before sunrise.


	5. Chapter 5

**Loving Tree Studios**

**Van Nuys, California**

**June 17, 1983**

Daisy hadn't made much of a habit of being part of the music scene, although she always claimed she hadn't actively avoided it. She was wrapped up in her writing and her traveling...but music was still very much a part of her daily life. She just wasn't recording it anymore. So when Eddie Loving surprised her with a phone call asking her to lay a vocal on a track he was working on, it excited her to get back behind a microphone.

She showed up at his studio, and for all the things he was, seeing Eddie felt like coming home in a way. He held her and lifted her off her feet.

"Daisy Fucking Jones. You haven't changed a bit." He said as he swung her gently. She laughed as he sat her down, adjusting the hat she was wearing.

"I like to think I have...but thank you." They shared a smile.

"Right right...no I heard about you getting clean. That's great. Listen, we are stocked with water and...all the good things here. So no worries. Let's get you in the studio. I miss those pipes."

Eddie showed Daisy into the booth and she sat at the stool, pulling out the folded lyrics he had sent her to look over. It was a beautiful song he had been given to arrange, and she didn't even know what for, but he called her excited as all hell about it and said as soon as he heard the melody "it had to have a Daisy Jones vocal." Eddie sat behind the booth and started playing random tracks and lines and asked her to test her mic. He gave her a thumbs up and then back down before giving her the OK sign and coming over the speaker.

"You feel good on it? Wanna just give it a raw run and see what we come up with?"

Daisy nodded and gave him a thumbs up as she adjusted the cans on her ears, leaning on the stool and listening to the opening acoustic guitar riff. She sang through it one time, straight through, like she had been singing it her whole life. Eddie never said a word, just watched her. When she finished, he had rocked back in his chair and was bouncing there, smiling, before he came over the speaker.

"Fuck, Daisy. Why'd you give it up? That was....I mean...it was perfect. Perfection." Daisy smiled as she leaned into her microphone.

"It's a song about loving someone so much you hate them for it. I've lived this song. It didn't take much." Eddie laughed and spoke back into his mic.

"Touche. How about we take it a few more times just for a safety but man, I dunno that it'll get much better than that."

Daisy settled in and sang through it. She was smiling to herself watching Eddie sway along to it, his face as happy as she felt with it. She saw him react to some noise behind him and hold up a finger then roll it around letting her know to keep going as he stood up from his chair and left the booth. He was gone for a few minutes and then burst back into the booth like a kid on Christmas, pulling someone behind him. 

Graham.

He stopped the tune half way through and spoke into his mic.

"Look what the cat dragged in!" Eddie smiled as he nudged Graham, who just smiled and waved at Daisy before leaning into the mic. 

"Hey stranger. Sounded good, sounded real good."

Daisy froze in place and in time as she saw him. For a brief moment she wasn't sure who it was, but she hadn't seen Graham since Chicago. And even though she loved to see him, he carried a lot for her.

"Good to see you, Graham," she spoke into her mic, "is that your guitar I've been hearing in my ears?"

Eddie leaned into the microphone.

"Fuck no, that's all me. Don't insult me like that. He and Billy just had some cables to return..."

Billy. She didn't hear much after she heard Eddie say his name.

She watched Graham and Eddie talk , she couldn't hear them without his studio mic turned on but she was reading their body language. Graham left without saying goodbye, so she knew he would be back. And he wouldn't be alone.

"Eddie...I don't know that it's ready for people to hear yet...I'd rather..."

He clicked his mic on and interrupted her.

"Daisy. It was ready for the world the second you walked in. C'mon. For old times sake. For me."

She smiled weakly and grabbed the water beside her stool practically drowning herself in it and feeling her pulse in her neck. She hadn't seen Billy since she flew from NYC in the middle of the night to keep herself out of his hotel room. It felt like hours, but Graham reappeared with Billy. In a ball cap and t-shirt...and of course too-tight jeans. His eyes fell on her right away and she couldn't read his vacant expression. Graham sat next to Eddie and pulled some cans on.

"Just like that first time, Dais, knock it out of the park so Billy Dunne doesn't have one negative word to say about it. Good luck..." Eddie teased her into the microphone and her eyes were fixed on Billy. She tried to smile. He didn't sit, but pulled the cord on some cans and put them on, standing against the wall and crossing his arms and legs. Suddenly she thought about the words she was about to sing. With him right there.

The guitar kicked in and she inhaled sharply, deciding she would just close her eyes. She sang hesitantly into the first verse and then managed to open her eyes gradually as she reached the hook for the chorus:

I only hated you because it was easier,

I was afraid you needed me and I was needier.

I was afraid to open up my heart,

You'd never finish if I never found the start.

She finished the song and all three men in the booth were silent. She was staring at Billy. She watched his jaw clench and his posture stiffen.

"I said it couldn't get better. It just did." Eddie spoke over the mic to her before Graham leaned over.

"Yeah...man...that was...something..." He was awe-struck and complimentary but also she sensed that Graham was wise to what that song was doing to her. Especially with Billy in the room. They both turned to Billy who was still leaning against the wall, chewing his cheeks. He pulled the cans off and leaned slowly over to the microphone, clicking it live to talk to Daisy.

"You sound great. You shouldn't have given it up. Really great, Daisy. Truly." He smiled at her faintly and then pushed the microphone arm back to Eddie. He patted him on the back and elbowed Graham. Billy was already leaving the room, Graham waved at Daisy and the brothers were gone.

"Wanna take a break?" Eddie asked, and Daisy was already pulling her cans off and nodding yes.

She walked out of the booth and right outside to get some fresh air, and maybe catch Billy...but he was long gone.

She thought about how he might feel, having not seen him since New York. She twisted her rope belt in her hands and went back inside. She wrote a note with her number on it and folded it. Eddie was already back at the board and pulling and pushing switches and Daisy handed the note to him.

"Hey, I wanted to catch Billy...could you get this to him? If it's alright with you I think I'm done for today."

Eddie took the note and looked it over smiling deviously.

"Yeah, yeah I'll get it to him. Put a rush on it?"

She smiled at him and thanked him for the productive morning before heading to her car.

______________________________

**Daisy Jones' Bungalow**

**Los Feliz, California**

**June 27, 1983**

Daisy was milling about her house, changing a record on the record player and getting ready to swim when her phone rang. She pulled out a large gold hoop earring to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey..." It was Billy. She wasn't sure what to say, so there was a long easy silence.

"I got your message...from Eddie."

"I'm glad you called."

"Well...I wanted to make sure you were home."

"I am...." she smiled to herself, obviously she was home if she answered her phone, "...why?"

The line went dead. She stared at it for a moment, still smiling to herself, but filling with confusion. She put the earring back in and tightened the sarong around her waist before walking towards the front door. The fact was she had lived every second of her life since giving that note to Eddie hoping that Billy would show up at her door. The note she left him was her number...and address. She would have written more if she was sure Eddie wouldn't have read it. She stood in the picture window that peered out to the road from a line of low lying palms that flanked her home. She was just about to head back to the pool when she saw his green car pulling up the road and landing in her circular drive. She saw him sit in his car without leaving it, and moved to the front door...wondering if he wouldn't just leave if she didn't. She opened the heavy door and pushed herself half through it. He smiled at her from the car before turning it off and stepping out of the driver's side door.

"That was fast..." She called to him.

"I was down the street getting gas. I figured I was in the neighborhood..." He closed the door but stood by it.

"Did you want to come in?" She wasn't sure from his body language if he had any intention of it. But he walked slowly towards her. She moved aside and he walked into her place.

"This is nice....” He was taking it in. Every midcentury detail, the very Daisy Jones appointments, and a back wall that was entirely windowed and led to a private yard with a circular pool.

"Thanks, I'm happy here." He reached into his back pocket as she spoke and turned to her. He was holding a copy of her book. She swallowed.

"So I never get you to sign this. I figured...at some point...Julia will want it." He was nervously playing with the book in his hand, holding it between them. She grinned, her cheeks blushing as she walked towards him to grab it. As she reached for it, he pulled it back. She stepped closer, he pulled it again. Until she was all but pressed into him, and he let the book fall at his side.

"You didn't come here to get my autograph, did you?" Her heart was in her throat.

"No. I didn't come here to get an autograph." He had a hard time saying the words, but pressed his forehead down into hers and closed his eyes, pressing his teeth together.

"Billy, I'm sorry about New York..." She nuzzled him, inhaling the scent she had missed every day since.

"Daisy...Daisy I am sorry about a lot of things." He opened his eyes and they met hers.

She lifted her arms behind her back and pulled at the long strings from her bikini top until it fell loose. The small white triangles that had been covering her breasts fell gently from her and landed on the floor between them. Billy watched it fall and his eyes lingered over parts of her he had only dreamt of seeing even if he had frequently taken them in through the thing fabric of her tanks. He moved his hands gingerly from her hips, up her sides and gradually let them find their way under her breasts, cupping them gently as his thumbs both grazed over the hard pink flesh of her nipples. She moaned and stared at him, unwilling to not watch him for every second. She reached for the buttons on his white shirt and undid them painfully slowly, feeling his heartbeat pound beneath her finger tips. She was desperate to feel his bare skin on hers. She pushed it gently back over his broad shoulders and he took his hands from her just long enough to let it fall from him. He undid the knot on her sarong and it floated to her floor, leaving only his jeans and her impossibly small white bikini bottoms between them. He ran his hands from her waist up her sides and lifted her arms until they were over her head and he pulled himself into her chest before letting them rest back down in his shoulders. She shuddered at the heat of his skin warming her breasts as she pressed deeper against him, the trail of hair on his taut stomach tickling at her abdomen and breaking her entire body out in goosebumps. They stared at each other, baited breath that came faster and hotter with every passing moment, not moving to speak or even kiss, just...staring. She lifted her hand to touch his face, her fingers tracing his lower lip as he parted his lips only to press them together against her fingers. He placed tiny kisses on the pad of each finger tip before she pressed her middle finger just past his lips and he closed them around it, gently sucking on it.   
  


She could feel his erection pressing through his pants and into her body and she wondered if she had it in her to reach for him. Both of them still living in a space where at any moment, the other might cut and run. But he beat her to the punch. He ran his hands back down her sides, moving so slow he almost seemed still, until he twisted his fingers into the knots at her hips that held the bikini onto her body. Both of his hands moved quickly until the knots fell open in his hands and he dropped them. She parted her legs enough to free her bottoms from her thighs and the thick musky scent of her desire for him wafted up between them. Her body’s admission of wanting him so badly embarrassed her for a slight moment before she felt his palm replace her bathing suit, closing gently over her wet center, his middle finger barely entering her but playing right at her slick opening. She gasped and he braced her back with his free hand. Somehow he knew exactly how to touch her which didn’t surprise her because he had always known exactly how to touch her. She fumbled with the buttons on his fly but was so lost in his finger slowly entering her that she could hardly focus her eyes or hands. He grinned at her a little and then pulled his hand from her back to help her.

”Jesus, Jones, it’s like you never had to get a guy out of pants before...“ he teased her gently but his voice was guttural and so full of sex that it didn’t help her concentration. She answered him without missing a beat.

”Not a guy that mattered, no.” He pulled his hand from between her legs and all four of their hands worked together at his buttons. Fumbling towards ecstasy and giggling like school kids as they got in each other’s way even as they tried to help. Daisy bit her lip hard as she spied the tuft of hair beneath his fly, his cock pressed down into the pant leg of his jeans. She couldn’t wait another second to feel or see him. She pushed her hand into his pants and closed her palm over him, barely enough room for her hand as he throbbed against her skin. She heard him suck in air as her fingers closed around him as best they could in his pants. She palmed him warmly, moving her hand over his length in the friction of his traditionally tight jeans. She felt his body tighten and his hand had found it’s way back to her thighs which were now both coated with her slick fluids and his finger slipped easily into her.

”My God, Daisy....” he whispered her name like a prayer as their eyes met. He fingered her softly, barely moving his hand just letting his finger probe her folds softly as her body throbbed around him. She was rubbing her open hand along the length of his cock inside his jeans and felt him tightening.   
  


“...We....we should stop.....” he was trying to speak between gasps and her heart sank and she slowed, but didn’t stop, her hand.

”I...fuck, Daisy....I won’t last....” He was staring right at her as he pleaded, as if he had never been touched before. It turned her on in a way she couldn’t describe to see him writhe under the weight of her hand and to not be able to control himself. That was all she ever wanted from Billy Dunne: to give up some fucking control. He pushed his finger deep into her and clamped the rest of his hand closed hard between her thighs. He was groaning as she forced him to look at her. He leaned into her and pressed his forehead to hers. She could tell he was holding his breath...fighting hard...

“Cum for me, Billy. I promise you can cum inside me later....” She hadn’t even gotten the words past her lips as she felt the vein in his shaft pulse in her palm and the heat of his orgasm start to fill her fingers and his pants. She cooed as she felt him for the first time, slick in her hand, studying his face as he came for her. Finally. Staring at her with his mouth hanging open, unable to breathe, his eyes fluttering slightly but not leaving hers, the corners of his mouth forming just the tiniest hint of a smile as his hips bucked gently into her and he finished. She had found her own release just watching him, his finger still penetrating deeper than she would have guessed it could. Her body pulling his him deeper into her as it convulsed. Her eyes bore into his and she bit her lip hard.  
  


“Don’t hold back...” he managed to whisper and she bellowed a low moan that may or may not have had his name somewhere inside of it. She folded herself into his chest, slick with sweat, as they both caught their breath...hands still covered in each other. They held tight to one another like they were afraid to let go. Afraid of what might come next. Daisy felt his finger slip from inside of her, brushing against her as he pulled it from between her legs and then wrapped it protectively around her back. She eased her hand from inside his jeans, using them to clean her palm before lifting her hands between them, resting them with her cheek in his chest.   
  


“If you take those off, I can wash them...” She lowered her eyes to see the mess they had made of his pants. She knew she couldn’t send him home like thats. He inhaled sharply, breathing her in as she pulled from him only slightly. She looked up at him and smiled as he brushed a piece of hair that her sweat had wet to her forehead. She did the same for his damp curls.

”Will you stay? Can we...just have today? You and me?” Her voice was soft and pleading and hopeful.

”I’ll stay.” He kissed her forehead several times and then stepped out of his jeans. He leaned down to lift them into his hands and then tossed him to her. She felt her cheeks blush at the sight of him fully naked in front of her without even a twist of humility or embarrassment. But then again, she didn’t have any either. They stood there, like Adam and Eve taking each other in, before she lifted her sarong and tied it up around her neck, using it to cover her whole body.

”Make yourself at home...” She smiled at him, thinking of how badly she wished it was his home. She carried his jeans to the laundry room and had only just barely left the room when she heard a splash in the pool. She smiled broadly and turned on the wash before walking back to the window and admiring his naked form gliding under the water in her pool. She couldn’t join him fast enough.   
  


She moved to the side of the pool and sat, naked in the midday sun, her feet dangling, until he noticed her and swam her direction, emerging from the water right between her knees. He shook his hair and soaked her.

”So....what do you want to do today...” She teased him, his wet face inches from her bare center as she spoke. She bit her lip as she watched him try to maintain eye contact with her.

”I want to swim...” He answered matter of factly.

”Ok....and....”

”I want to write a song with you....”

”Ok...and...”

”I want to make love to you....”

”Ok...and...”

”I want to fuck you....”

”There is a difference??” she asked incredulously. He raised his eyebrow and scoffed at her.

”Hell yes there is a difference. It’s probably easier if I just...you know...show you...”

”Probably...” She dropped her knees as she spoke and opened herself to him, already feeling his breath on her wet folds. He dove between her thighs and kissed her firmly, his lips and tongue nibbling and gliding over every hot pink piece of her skin before she felt his tongue enter her. He hummed inside of her and it echoed up into her stomach. She leaned back and clawed at the concrete as she arched her back. He had lifted himself far enough out of the water to be able to really push down onto and into her. He used his fingers to rhythmically stroke her aching clit as his tongue penetrated her deeply to the same beat her heart was pounding. He brought her quickly over the edge and her legs clamped around his neck, all but trapping him. She shook and shuddered but he was relentless, sucking and tasting every bit of the cream that was running from inside her. He was already scooping his hands under her bottom and lowering her into the water. She fell into his arms with a splash and was still quaking and pulsing when she felt his fingers spreading her lips apart. She felt the tip of his cock, warm even in the cool water, pressing against her opening as he braced her against the side of the pool.

”I’ll try to last longer than thirty seconds this time, but no promises....” He whispered into her hair. She grinned and nuzzled into his neck, her breath hot on his wet skin.

”I’ve waited so long for you Billy. I don’t care if it’s five seconds. It will have been worth it.”

He slid himself up into her and she had misjudged his size and/or the length of time that had passed for her because she let out a sharp cry and was grateful for the water to ease the sting. He asked if she was ok and she answered by rocking her hips down against him, taking him further. She latched onto him fiercely and let him make his way inside of her. Her feet around his backside, feeling how hard he was working to get deeper and deeper inside of her. She pulled his face to hers and let his tongue find it’s way into her mouth in the same way his cock had found it’s way into her belly. They rocked and humped steadily, the water splashing around them. She felt his stomach tighten and she pushed her heels into his ass, making him pick up his tempo. She twitched and tightened around him.   
  


“Billy...I’m going to...”

”Me, too...”

They froze together, glued to the side of the pool in a chorus of moans and panting as they came together. He filled her completely as her body worked hard to milk him of everything he had been saving for her. Their bodies relaxed but she couldn’t let him go. They kissed sweetly, innocently, as he stayed inside of her...neither one ready to break the connection.

”So...was that fucking or making love...” She teases him as she played at his hair. He grinned at her.

”I dunno actually. They both feel the same with you. I’m just glad it was longer than a minute.”

”And it was well worth the wait.”

______________  
  


Billy and Daisy spent the day doing all the things they loved: they played music, they wrote music, they swam, they made love, they slept, they cooked. But like all good things...

Daisy was cutting up a tomato for a salad as Billy, back in his now clean jeans but nothing else, sat on the counter.

”Where does she think you are?” Daisy asked quietly. Billy inhaled and twisted his fingers in his lap.

”The studio. So...I probably need to think about...maybe after dinner....getting home....”

Daisy felt her heart drop but she knew it was coming. She promised herself it would be ok.

It had to be ok.

”Well then, let’s make it a great dinner. Pass me that avocado.” He tossed one to her from the counter and smiled as she caught it.

”I can come back you know...I mean. We can find time. Figure this out...” Daisy stopped for a minute as he spoke. She put the knife down and turned to him, in just a white tank and panties, her hair in a messy pile on her head. He had no idea how badly she wanted to just agree with him and make a plan. But...she already had a plan.

”Billy. I’m leaving.”

Her words floated in the air and he frowned.

”What do you mean...leaving?” His voice was hurt and unsure. She chewed her lip and spoke quietly.

”I’m leaving. Simone and I. We leave for South Africa tomorrow.”

He slid off the counter and stepped towards her.   
  


“OK. When do you get back?” he asked, reaching for her hand.

”Billy....we had the most amazing day. It was...everything I wanted. It was everything you could possibly give me. But we can’t keep doing this. You have your family...”

”You didn’t answer the question....”

”It’s...I’m not sure. I mean...a year?”

”Jesus, Daisy, why??”

”We had this planned for a few years now. There’s a lot of humanitarian work being done there. Billy you have your purpose. Your girls. Those beautiful girls. I’m going to find mine, too.”

”In South Africa....”

”Maybe.”

They stared at each other for a long while. She stroked his hair as he tried to accept it. He inhaled and reached for his shirt hanging on the kitchen chair.

”Well, I’m glad I didn’t wait one more day then.” He was having a hard time looking at her as he pulled his shirt on and fixed his hair.

”Billy....”

”No, it’s ok. You’re right. We...had today.”

The pain in his voice was breaking her and she was silently willing herself not to cry.

”I love you. Billy. Look at me.”

He did, moving to where she could hold him. Trying to find the words to change her mind. Even if he wasn’t sure she should.

”I love you. I wish...I wish that was enough.”

”I know.” She whispered and finally let one tear fall. He kissed it and spoke with his mouth on her skin.

”I need to go before I say something I’ll regret. I...I just hope you find what you’re looking for. I really do.”

She nodded. She couldn’t talk because she was too busy working at not coming apart. But as soon as he walked to the door she hollered his name.

He turned to her and she grinned as she reached for his shirt. He had buttoned it wrong, and for more than one reason she wanted to fix it. She finished and stroked the side of his face. He couldn’t force a smile.

”I don’t suppose you’d stay if I just asked you to...” she inhaled as he spoke. Wanting to say that she would.

”No....”

He looked away from her for a long time, biting his lower lip. Hard. Then after staring at her for as long as he could, he whispered in her ear,

”I’m never gonna not love you Daisy Jones.” 

He turned and walked out. She watched him go, the lump in her throat growing...and when she heard his car start....she crumbled to the kitchen floor and had a good long cry.

She had already found what she was looking for. But it would always be just out of reach. She knew now that he understood that feeling.


	6. Chapter 6

** Live Aid Relief Concert **

** Wembley Stadium, UK **

** July 13, 1985 **

Billy and Camilla Dunne, among with Graham and a very pregnant Jeanne Dunne, had decided to take their families abroad for a summer vacation. They spent a week in France, in Italy, a few nights in Ibiza and then some time in London. A trip that coincided with the Live Aid concert for Ethiopian Relief. The brothers had, on behalf of The Six, made a sizable donation and were attending the concert as VIPs, bringing their kids along to what was slated to be one of the biggest concerts of all time. 

They were at the venue all day, introducing the girls to some of the most famous musicians of their time, fielding questions about whether The Six would ever reunite, but mostly just soaking up the sun and the atmosphere. There was music all day and Camila had crafted small hoops for the girls to dance and twirl. They all had giant orange cans on and walked around like they owned the place. As comfortable with the likes of Freddie Mercury as they were with a stranger on the street. Billy loved watching them in his element, as it slowly became theirs. And he loved watching Camila there, too. Beautiful long brown hair, jeans and a crop top. Dancing with his girls. The vacation far from Los Angeles and the bustle of his work had reconnected them all into a slow and steady peaceful pace. And the energy was palpable. She noticed him noticing them as he sat in the chairs and watched them dance, the stadium filling around them, and she whispered an “I love you.” He winked at her. 

“You wish we were playing?” Graham had sat down next to him and leaned in to be heard as he asked, watching band after band file in and warm up. Billy crossed his leg and shrugged. 

“Every once in awhile....” They shared a look. They both looked over at the throng of little girls dancing.

“But not today?” Graham asked again. Billy smiled and patted his brother’s knee.

“Not today, man, not today.”

Camila had made her way over to them and sat on Billy’s lap, leaning in to his neck and kissing it as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Julia needs a bathroom break. Which one of you feels like fighting through this crowd to get her to one?”

Billy kissed her cheek and snuggled her before lifting her tiny frame and sitting it back down on his empty chair.

“I’ll go. I might walk her around backstage for a little bit. Stretch my legs.” 

Camila sat by Graham and Billy moved to Julia, sweeping her into the air in one swift movement...all the way up over his head and onto his shoulders. She let her hands fall into his hair and he braced her legs as she giggled and they walked off towards the bathroom. Camila watched them walk backstage.

“You think he’s happy? You think he can be happy...without all this...” She turned to Graham, still watching him walk off. He put his arm around her.

“I do.”

She watched him go...bouncing their daughter on his shoulders as she laughed, surrounded by amps and musicians and smoke and hoped deep down that Graham was right.

Billy made his way to the backstage bathrooms and waded through the small crowd.

“Jules, you are almost too big for this kinda ride you know that?” He called up to her.

“You said you would ALWAYS carry me....” She laughed and yelled down at him. But he was really struggling under her weight. She was built more like him than Camila and she was already all legs. He eased her down off his back but lost his grip as she tried to stay on his shoulders. She would have tumbled off had someone right behind her not caught some of her weight. Billy was still holding her ankle tight, twisting in one swift movement to catch her. 

It was Simone Jackson. Right behind him, smiling as Julia all but crashed into her.

“Oh man...nice catch. Sorry about that.” Billy laughed a little and Julia slid down between them. She bopped past Billy and into the bathroom.

“Hey no messing around in there...hurry out!” he shouted as she ran. Simone laughed and watched her.

“Man, for as fast as she is moving you’re lucky you got her off your shoulders when you did.” They chuckled and then Simone’s face changed slightly, like she was somehow uneasy all of the sudden.

“Billy Dunne. Haven’t seen you in a long time. Your baby is...all grown up.” Billy tucked his hands in his pockets. 

“It happens fast, I can tell you that.” She grinned as he spoke. There was a long moment of silence before he spoke again.

“How’s Daisy? I...haven’t heard much from her since you guys went off to save the world.....any luck with that?” 

Simone smiled and her dark eyes took in his charm as she tried to wrap her mind around how to answer his question. 

“Well...she’s here with me. Maybe you can ask her yourself. But...yeah....we...I mean we didn’t save the world but....she....”

Simone was struggling to string a sentence together and Billy lifted an eyebrow.

“She what?”

“Well...you’ll see.” She winked at him as Juliapopped back between them.They were both lost in talking to her when Billy heard someone calling Simone’s name. Not just someone.

Daisy.

His eyes flew up as he tried to spot her. And spot her he did. One of her wide brimmed hats fluttering through the crowd. Her auburn hair was shorter, falling just to her chin, and she was all but floating through the crowd in a long flowing white dress. But for once it wasn’t her beauty but...some other details that really stopped him in his tracks.

She had a cloth sling over her chest, brightly colored and carrying a baby. All he could really make out was a head full of bright blonde curls. She had her hand protectively across the back of it, and in her other hand toddled a boy that was probably four...beautiful dark skin and a head of equally messy brown curls. Billy’s mouth hung wide open as Simone looked from Daisy and back to him. She could see him trying to make sense of it as she looked back at Daisy who had slowed her pace realizing who Simone was talking to. It had been 18 months since her favorite day. And she knew it would always stay her favorite day. But she hadn’t seen him since. She hadn’t seen _America_ since. They stared at each other as the space between them closed and Simone wasn’t sure whether to stay or go. But knowing what was about to unfold she thought...she might be needed.

Daisy hiked the baby in her sling, who was sleeping against her chest, as she approached them. Simone cleared her throat.

“Look who I found! It’s practically a reunion!” Simone tried to keep it light as the boy who’s hand Daisy was holding jumped into Simone’s arms and she swung him. 

“Billy....what are you doing here??” Daisy smiled uncomfortably, her heart racing the way it always managed to in his presence. Julia gasped.

“Daisy Jones?? Aren’t you Daisy Jones??”

Daisy looked down at her and nodded as Julia threw herself around Daisy’s waist, hugging her tight. The fact that Julia remembered her moved her more than she could say and she ran her fingers through her long dark hair as she looked up at Billy.

“Well, I guess if she’s going to hug you....” They shared a smile as he spoke before leaning in to hug her side. It lasted longer than it should have and he inhaled her hair as she closed her eyes against his neck.He pulled back, his arm still around her back. He looked at the baby buried in her chest and the boy Simone was bouncing. 

“Looks like...you have some introductions to make?” There was a strange knot in Billy’s stomach as he spoke and he couldn’t place it. Staring at the baby in her arms and silently willing it to wake up. Daisy felt sick. She was breathing so hard he could feel her back lowering and lifting.

“Yes. I...so....in South Africa...I adopted.”

She wouldn’t lie to him. She knew this would happen she just wasn’t prepared for it to happen when she least expected to see him. In London of all places.

“Oh...you adopted. That’s...that’s great.” Billy felt a weight rise from his shoulders and the pang of jealousy that had been there disappeared with it.

Simone looked at Daisy and tried to read her thoughts.

“Yes....that little man is Louis...” she gestured to the boy in Simone’s arms as Billy ran his hands through his hair and smiled, “and this is...Harry.” As she said the baby’s name he stirred against her. She willed him to not wake up. She silently prayed to God that he would not wake up but she felt him stirring and stretching and rolling until he was looking up at the two of them. 

Billy’s heart dropped. So fast and hard he thought he’d have to sit down. He and Daisy and Simone stood silently locked in place. Billy pulled his arm from her back.

“You...you adopted them both...”

Daisy just stared at him...nodding slowly...faintly...trying to keep it together...

“But...they aren’t brothers....I mean...”

“Well, they are now.” Simone tried to help.

Billy had always known his daughters. It tore him apart to have a father that could look at him and not know that he was his. 

That was not the case here. As Harry woke and looked up at Billy, he was looking in the same green eyes. And he knew.

“Billy....” Daisy tried to speak but she knew there was nothing she could say to explain it away. 

“Julia! Do you remember where mommy is sitting?? Let’s go find her!” Simone took her hand and Julia looked at Billy for permission. He nodded and gave it to her.

Billy and Daisy stood locked looking at each other with a beautiful blonde baby hanging between them. 

“How old is he Daisy....”

“You know how old he is.”

They were quiet again.

“You should have told me. This is...”

She whispered and interrupted him.

“This is not the place. Listen to me. What would have happened if I told you. You would have what? Left them behind to come to South Africa? I know you’re angry and you’ve got every right. I did what I thought was right. I love you. I will always love you. And now I have this beautiful piece of you for all the times when I wish I had more of you and I can’t. You gave me that. It has to be enough. Billy, it has to be. Please.”

She started crying as she spoke and he was fighting the urge to not do the same.

“Daisy... he’s mine too.”

“Yes. And he always will be. Just like I am. I don’t need money....”

“For fuck’s sake Daisy I’m not worried about money. I don’t want him to think he has a piece of shit dad.”

“He never will. He was adopted. That’s all he will know. All anyone will know. Just like his brother was. And he will be surrounded by people who love him more than anything. And maybe some day a really cool Uncle Billy who will teach him how to play guitar....”

“Daisy look at him....”

She knew what he meant. She remembered the first time she held Harry. She and Simone both saw it. A spitting image of Billy. A blonde version of Julia.

“Yes. I know. Which is why I have to keep my distance for now. Camila will know. And she can’t know. Please....give me this. Let me do this my way. For now. Please?”

He stood silently looking at his baby in her arms.

“For now.....” he whispered her words back to her.

“Everything with us will always be for now....” she smiled and took his hand, trying to assure him. 

“Not everything. Somethings with us are going to be forever.” He whispered and touched the blonde hair sticking on Harry’s forehead.

“I love you, Billy Dunne. I love you so hard. Now go back to your family. And...we will see you. The world has a funny way of making sure that happens.” She kissed his cheek and walked off. He turned and walked into the men’s room, splashed water on his face and steadied himself on the sink. Looking at himself in the mirror for a long while before heading back to Camila.

He waded through the crowd like it was mud. He saw Simone talking to Jeanne, sitting between her and Camila as the kids played in front of them. Billy took his place at her side and slung his arm around her neck, meeting her brown eyes as they registered his apprehension.

“Everything ok? I was worried you were going to miss Queen....” She was trying desperately to read him, worried that his distant look was about missing the music of his past when in fact, it was something different from his past that had shaken him. He smiled at her.

“Nah...I’m good. Nothing could keep me from Queen.” He kissed her cheek as she turned back to gesture to Simone, who had Louis bouncing at her feet dancing with Susana and Maria, their twins, who looked so big next to a toddler.

“Did she tell you? Daisy adopted two boys. Isn’t that wonderful?! She took his hand and he smiled as they all played. For a moment he let himself believe it could be that easy. 

“She said Daisy is here somewhere with the other boy. I can’t wait to see her...to meet him...” Camila paused her excitement, “have you...seen her?”

The question felt more loaded to Billy than she had intended. But he wasn’t going to lie. At least for now, he didn’t have to. For now.

“I did, we ran into them by the bathrooms. He’s...man...it’s crazy right?”

Camila leaned her head on his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head.

“I’m just so happy for her Billy. She turned it around, you know?” Billy sensed a pride in her voice from being the one that had helped her do that and all he could think was... _you have to start believing this is the way it was supposed to be._

Billy knew he wouldn’t see Daisy again that night. She would never do that to Camila. And he wondered if or when he would see her again at all.

But more than that he wondered if he was the kind of man who could spend his days loving his girls hard and giving them the world...and his nights wondering about the other piece of his heart that was off roaming the world, trying to pretend he didn’t exist.

Queen took the stage with Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Billy couldn’t help but laugh. Simone rounded the group with Louis in her arms, off to no doubt find Daisy. She stood beside Billy for a moment and then whispered to him.

“It’ll be alright. You’ll find each other again. Just...keep loving everyone hard and you’ll make it.”

She patted his shoulder and kissed his cheek. 

“We will be in touch.” She flashed him a peace sign and moved into the crowd until she disappeared.

_Keep loving everyone hard_. Billy eventually had those words tattooed onto his bicep. Surrounded by six stars. To represent the people he needed to love the hardest. No matter how hard it ever got.  


Camila. Julia. Susana. Maria.

Daisy. Harry.


End file.
